Okinawa Japan Government Officials

A Socialist-backed candidate who wants the United States to abandon its military bases on Okinawa was elected governor of the Japanese island prefecture. Masahide Ota, 65, backed by the Socialists, Communists and other opposition parties, defeated Junji Nishime, a conservative who has been Okinawa's governor for 12 years. Nishime, 69, was backed by Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu's Liberal Democratic Party and the moderate opposition Democratic Socialist Party.

A Socialist-backed candidate who wants the United States to abandon its military bases on Okinawa was elected governor of the Japanese island prefecture. Masahide Ota, 65, backed by the Socialists, Communists and other opposition parties, defeated Junji Nishime, a conservative who has been Okinawa's governor for 12 years. Nishime, 69, was backed by Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu's Liberal Democratic Party and the moderate opposition Democratic Socialist Party.